Life on the water can seem idyllic as you walk along the towpath along London’s 160-mile network of canals. The boats dotted along the winding shores look incredibly charming, romantic and colorful. What’s even better is that it’s cheaper than buying a traditional land-based house or apartment in the city.
“It’s very peaceful here,” says David Ross, a freelance sound designer who has lived on London’s waterways for 15 years. “When I wake up in the morning and open the side door, I see the river. The ducks are waiting to feed me. It’s a really wonderful way to live.”
Ross, 62, started playing in the water many years ago after his marriage broke up and his mother fell ill with cancer. “At the end of the day, I didn’t have much money because I couldn’t work for a while,” he said. “I had enough money to buy a boat, so I bought one.”
As he spoke, a kingfisher flew by and the sun streamed through the windows of the 43-foot-long Dutch barge. He bought his current houseboat about six years ago for £30,000 (about $38,000). He did extensive renovations because it was “completely abandoned,” he said. Built in 1940, this barge has an open kitchen/salon in the bow, a bathroom with shower and toilet, and a double bedroom in the stern. It’s a great setup, albeit a little cramped. “Headroom is one of the big drawbacks,” he said.
Ross says he will never live on dry land again because he prefers to be “surrounded by nature.” But the reality is that he probably couldn’t afford the place he wanted anyway. House prices remain out of reach for many people in London, with the average sale price at around 508,000 British pounds (about $636,000), a rise of 50% over the past decade. Meanwhile, a two-bedroom Dutch barge houseboat in the area currently costs around £190,000 (about $238,000).
This option is too tempting. A new wave of residential boat use is pushing London’s canal support system beyond its limits. “It’s changed dramatically over the last few years,” Ross said. “There are probably three or four times as many boats as there were 10 years ago. And the demographics have changed too. There are a lot of younger people.”
Boaters have lived on Britain’s canals since the Industrial Revolution. But the number of residential boats in London has increased by 86 per cent to more than 4,000 over the past decade, according to the Canal and River Trust, which manages the country’s waterway system. The number of boats without home moorings, or a legal place to berth, has more than tripled.
Jonathan Radford, national communications manager at the Canal and River Trust, said: “London’s housing crisis and cost of living are behind the huge increase in the number of people living on boats in the capital. Probably.”
With new boats on the water, even this affordable living option is becoming impossible. Ross’ winter coal supply costs him 22 pounds (about $29) per bag, and he needs at least 20 bags this season. Diesel and gasoline prices have also increased by about 50%, and the base price of a boat license has also increased.
Still, the Canal and River Trust has not taken any action to limit the number of boats, said Fran Reed, the organization’s national spokesperson. “Even in popular spots like London, where the number of boats is more concentrated, there’s plenty of room,” Reid said. “However, there is a limited amount of canal space and it is already very congested in some places. Therefore, if boaters do not have a permanent mooring, it is difficult to find mooring space where they wish. may not be possible.”
Residential boaters in London have two options. One is permanently moored in a marina or along a towpath and has electrical hook-ups for daily functions. In central London, permanent moorings are almost full. The other option is more affordable, but less stable. It’s a “continuation cruise.” This requires the boat to be moved to what is essentially a parking area at least every 14 days.
To ease congestion, the trust is cracking down on rogue seafarers. “If you don’t have a mooring, they move you around like a parking lot attendant,” Ross said. He pays about 7,000 pounds (about $8,800) a year for a permanent mooring, which is much cheaper than the typical price in India. area. “They have people on bikes manage each area and keep track of how long each boat can stay there. Overstaying will result in a £25 per day fine.”
Ms Reid admitted that living on a ship in London could be “considerably cheaper” than living on land, but it had its own challenges and was not suitable for everyone. . “We support boaters who are experiencing hardship in any way we can,” she said. “That includes providing them with benefits that are available to people living on low incomes.”
Boaters on residential moorings can claim housing benefit in the same way as land-based residents. And last year, the Canal and River Trust lobbied for boaters who don’t have moorings at home to be included in the government’s energy support scheme.
Mark Knightley, 41, and his partner Tessa Roberts, 37, bought their first houseboat in London about eight years ago when they realized it was their biggest chance to live together.
“We rented two separate homes and lived miles apart,” Knightley said. “And I’m an actor, and Tessa is a researcher, so we don’t have a lot of money. And the cheapest way to live together was to buy a boat.”
The couple lived for five years in a 36-foot narrowboat they bought for about £35,000 (about $45,000) in Hackney, east London. “We had a bed that folded out every night and the floor space was about two square feet,” Knightley said. “But it was in a beautiful marina on the River Lea.”
Three years ago, shortly before their daughter was born, the couple spent less than £200,000 upgrading to a 70ft Dutch boat permanently moored at South Dock Marina on the River Thames in Rotherhithe, south-east London.
Mr Knightley said of the community around them: “It’s like nothing you’ll find anywhere else in London.” “There’s a lot of creative people, and there’s a lot of history on the docks and boats here.”
Still, going to the supermarket can be a pain, and ordering food can be complicated if the delivery driver doesn’t understand your address. And of course, raising kids on a barge comes with its own challenges. Power outages are a problem in the winter, but “it’s scary when your little one is taking a bath and suddenly you’re thrown into total darkness,” Knightley said.
“People assume we must be constantly worried about her safety because of the water,” Roberts said. “But I think it’s the same as living near the road. Teach them to be careful around the road and don’t leave them unsupervised.”
However, the biggest challenge for couples these days is rising costs. Boat license fees will increase by 4% from April 2022, and the Canal and River Trust has also phased in an additional price range for boats over 7ft 1 in width. An additional 5 percent will be added to the fee for boats over 10 feet 7 in width.
Houseboats in the UK require a Boat Safety Scheme Certificate, which must be renewed every four years. For narrowboats, the cost is not prohibitive – Mr Knightley and Mr Roberts paid £300 – but mooring fees have increased by 11% this year to £10,000. sterling (approximately $12,450).
“In the case of our barge, it cost £13,000 ($16,500) to get the certificate, but the work to make it legally safe will probably take 10 years,” Knightley said. . “When this boat last took it out of the water, the steel needed to be replaced, which cost £40,000 ($51,000). She also had to have the engine serviced every five years. there is.”
Their area of London is facing higher fees as part of Southwark Borough Council’s £6 million marina redevelopment plan. The goal is to address health and safety issues on the water and on the docks, create a new cleaning facility and cafe, and replace old workshops, currently housed in shipping containers, with new, purpose-built ones.
Southwark Neighborhoods, Leisure and Parks Councilor Catherine Rose said the plan “addresses urgent health and safety issues to maintain a working marina and improve the boatyard environment”. We will deal with it.”
He said to ease the transition, the council was offering discounts to boat repair shops and implementing a phased rent increase over three years for all existing boatyard businesses.
But boaters like Knightley and Roberts see the move as a way to replace lower-income boaters with more commercial interests. “There’s a lot of concern in the community here right now about how the council is essentially trying to evict people,” Mr Knightley said. “The housing situation in London is just terrible. They are only making it worse.”
But boaters tend to agree that safety and security are urgent issues. Although the Metropolitan Police does not keep separate data on water crime, boaters say crime has long been a problem in marinas and even on boats.
“I will never live on a ship again,” said Janusz Konarski, 56, who lived exactly the same life in London’s Little Venice from 1983 to 1995 before returning to land. “I never felt safe. There was a guy who was trying to steal my bike. Then I had a glue-detector who was mentally ill unmoor it. He was trying to steal my bike. at knifepoint, but the police caught him.
Ross recently said: “It feels like there’s a lot of crime. There’s more break-ins, more common thefts. We’re in desperate times here, and boats are an easy target.”
